As noted in my final slide
My
discoveries have shown that many EDM enthusiasts in the San Diego community
have a liking towards sets that incorporate the sounds of harder styles. At
time the same, the main sponsor of EDM events is LED which promotes DJs that
incorporate these sounds. Many people aren’t fans of EDM until they attend
events or begin listening to the music more. I wonder do people enjoy these
sounds because that’s what is prevalent here? If people started becoming more
interested in other types of genre, do you think new sponsorships would form? A more general question would be
Do
you think music influences the culture or does culture influence music?
Personally, I think that LED being established in 2010 did create a trend toward the harder styles of music. So in this way the music is influencing the culture. At the same time after people were influenced by the genres being played by LED events, they wanted more music of this kind because the San Diego culture became what it is. So in that sense, the culture is affecting the music. As more and more diverse DJs came to perform in San Diego, they changed their music styles to fit into what San Diegans enjoyed.
Here are links to the music that I showed in class:
Dubstep
Brostep
Electro
Trance
Progressive
I think Ryan & Eric brought up really good points about Geography & the Euro/American duality in tastes having to do with the SD 'harder' EDM scene. I personally have no fondness for the genre(s) but I think the difference in tastes based on city & country is very interesting. Eric's point about the Euro association with Trance was particularly interesting to me because it seemed odd that we [or the SD EDM scene] would reject Trance over other styles when the transfer of other European musical groups has been embraced quite readily. Mumford & Sons (a recurring example in these blogs I suppose) is one example, while David Guetta, or...I dunno. I really have no knowledge in this genre but I wonder why it is in EDM that there seems to be some sort of rejection of the European EDM Trance aesthetic. Or maybe it is just SD that is like that, in which case, I wonder what that says about SD people? Ben had brought up the conservative nature of many SD residents, but I wonder if ravers & EDM regulars are these conservative types..somehow I think they aren't. Unless they're closet-conservatives.
ReplyDeleteHi Eunah,
ReplyDeleteFrom my research it is only San Diego that has less of a preference for Trance. Trance is actually the preferred genre in San Francisco and the larger EDM enthusiast population. Armin Van Buuren, is the number one DJ in the world, and he is a trance artist. So ya, I was questioning the same question as to why San Diegans have less of a preference towards it. I wouldn't say people here reject it, but it's not their favorite like most other places.
I definitely think conservatism in SD culture attributes to the fact that our society hasn't taken in Euro Trance. I mean if you look at how other cultures are 'taken in' you see that they are really not at all. DIfferent cultures in SD are more expected to hide under the veil that is SD culture so it makes sense why Trance hasn't had a huge effect. Whereas because the 'heavier' styles of music evolved in SD there is nothing wrong with that. Maybe this is really extreme but I'm sure it plays a part.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your idea that the music has influenced the culture, because like you mentioned in class it was a very exclusive scene, but as these companies showed up and marketed to the masses, a culture started forming and drew in all sorts of people and musicians. A example would include the one I mention in class, how Skrillex originally was introduced into the music scene though a pop/punk/scremo band. which is pretty far from dub step. So because EDM became such a big successful thing, it created an incentive to switch over.
I also agree with Afsar that the conservatism in SD is a huge contributor as to why SD isn't a huge fan or show an appeal for some EDM. Different demographics play a huge role in any music, and for EDM here in SD that are a lot of influences such as SD being a huge military city (someone mentioned this example in class...). I liked this example because I could relate to and could make that connection between SD's conservatism and the rejection of some EDM. I've lived on military bases almost my whole life and can definitely say I've heard many of the derogatory terms or just terrible names in reference EDM, especially from the older generation....
DeleteThis reference is usually made with some type of sexuality reference...I wonder why that is but then I think that a lot of the time whenever I've heard someone who doesn't know what EDM is and they reference it like that they have this picture of the "Euro Trash" idea or what that may be...
It really is interesting how the SD scene has developed differently from other places, especially since I see the EDM scene as one that doesn't really stick to one place. You could claim that maybe it is just what people in San Diego are familiar with, but from what I see on Facebook, people will travel all over to different EDM scenes. So then, San Diegans would be exposed to many different EDM scenes and not just what is going on here.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can be called an EDM enthusiast, but I do enjoy listening to it once in a while and attending some events that incorporate EDM. What makes me enjoy the few events I have attended are the friends that I am with, so there could be an association with having a good time to the music for me. I can see what you mean by people not enjoying it until they have experienced it, but it is also something I can understand why some would not enjoy. It's not really something suitable for sitting down and chatting over, but more for getting up on your feet and moving around.
One other interesting fact that may be of relevance is looking at a city like Las Vegas (an EDM capital) and seeing how they compare to San Diego. You mentioned during your presentation that trance is no longer as big here in SD. I feel as though this is not a unique phenomenon; look at Las Vegas for example. A few examples of artists that frequent the popular nightblubs are Tiesto, Deadmau5, Dada Life, and Steve Aoki. These DJs all can fit into your analysis of the harder styles. Do you think that the proximity to Vegas might influence the breed of artists that perform in San Diego? After all, music agents try to route their artists whenever possible. A cost-effective next step for an artist performing in Las Vegas is San Diego. This, however, is probably just one little part of a much bigger explanation.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that mostly the harder stuff is played in SD. And up north is softer, such as trance. I remember you talking about if the softer stuff becomes more popular here in SD if there was going to be a new promotion company to promote it, but I would think that the current promotion companies (even though the tend to hire more hard DJs) would shift to promoting the softer stuff, that the industry changes due to the audiences' taste, if it didn't i feel it would die off pretty quickly. Great job on your presentation!
ReplyDeleteIn class you showed the main sponsors of EDM events, but I was a bit curious as to who owns these sponsors and where do their funds come from? I was also curious as to what caused the rise of EDM and whether there was a push from a capitalist source or whether the EDM culture just grew without larger structures pushing it forward. I would also like to know more about how you think EDM might affect the cultures that interact with it and how those cultures might interact with it.
ReplyDeleteAt first when you introduced your topic as EDM all I knew was what the acronym stood for and that my pre-conceived notion was just that it was "club music". I think that by listing the sponsors of the events and talking a bit about the DJ's in the EDM community you made me think of what a complex and widespread community it is. I had no idea about any of these places and the demographic preferences or preferences depending on city all varied so much. I think I found that the most interesting, especially like a lot of people have already mentioned and you talked about during your presentation, Trance being the least popular in SD.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I was wondering about after you started to describe the many of the EDM sponsors was how competitive this field of music is, and how competitive it is for a member of the community to become more involved with the music scene. What does this competition do to the music? Does it make changes occur more in the musical elements or more sub-types of this music develop faster?
Publicity is obviously a huge importance for EDM so I wondered how difficult it would be for a musician or DJ to get themselves established with little means of publicity in the EDM scene. I also wondered if a lot of these DJ's make their own music? If so are their copyright laws that are often needing to be looked at? Or do they as we mentioned in class use small enough portions of other work or clips that are accessible to reproduce?
I think Ben's comment about how San Diego is considered slow pace and how the music makes up for it is important. Most of my friends from San Diego complain that everything about this city feels slow and lazy. They prefer the busy ness of LA, San Francisco, Tokyo, and London. While I haven't really traveled enough or stayed in the larger cities to tell, it definitely is true that when someone feels a lack about one thing, they try to fill it with another.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I definitely agree with the comment that was made that it is worth driving to LA to hear the music in a proper performance spot for it than just put in one of the largest venues people can find in San Diego. San Diego doesn't really seem to have the option for variety that other cities have.
It's interesting to see how harder EDM is more popular in San Diego. I'm curious about the details of the softer styles like trance. Are there any venues or companies based out here that promote primarily trance and are there many trance artists from San Diego? If not, then perhaps one more reason why trance is less popular here is because there is also a lack of a foundation for trance artists to connect with one another and the promoters with, and thus, in many ways there is less potential for a starting trance artist to develop themselves here.
ReplyDelete